The deer was a surprise. I headed down to the shore to take the picture without knowing the deer was there. I'd seen a dead deer along the trail a couple of weeks ago. At that time, it was "fresh." The deer skeleton is about 15 meters from where I'd seen the dead deer. I presume it is the same animal.
My theory is that the deer was shot by a bow hunter but was able to run away. It was about 150-200 meters from the edge of the bow hunting area.
What are the rules regarding shooting a deer in range, but then it runs out of range to die?
I read something about that recently. I think a hunter is supposed to contact a ranger and explain what happened. It wasn't exactly the same situation, I think it was about rifle hunting.
I don't know enough about bow hunting to know how far an injured deer could travel before dropping. Maybe you could even hit a deer and not realise it? That seems unlikely. On the other hand, if a deer could travel even a few hundred meters while injured, it might be impossible to figure out where it ended up.
I suppose it could also have been hunted in the no hunting area and just left there. I have seen hunters blinds in the no hunting area.
Or maybe the deer I found died of a non-hunting cause.